When fishing, and especially when ice fishing, people want to maximize the amount of fish they catch by using several fishing lines. It can be difficult, however, to know when a fish is on the line while monitoring several lines. One solution to this problem is to attach a tip up apparatus to each line. The tip up raises a flag when a fish pulls on the hook line. The user must run over to the line and manually hook the fish when the tip up indicates that a fish is pulling on the line. The user is often too late to hook the fish, however, and the fish escapes. Certain fishing apparatus attempt to automatically hook the fish so the user only needs to reel the fish in. Conventional fishing apparatus have several deficiencies as described below.
There exists a number of U.S. patents directed to fishing apparatus including U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,312 issued to Ball. Ball teaches a fishing apparatus for setting a fish hook into a fish striking the hook. The apparatus includes a fishing pole that pivotally engages a pair of brackets at one end and supports a hook line at the other end. The hook setting apparatus has a mousetrap construction and the hook line loops under a trigger rod that is linked to the mousetrap trigger. The mousetrap trigger engages a keeper that holds a U-shaped band in the ready position. The U-shaped band is biased away from the hook end of the apparatus by a torsion spring. When a fish strikes the hook, the tension in the hook line pulls on the trigger rod, which actuates the mousetrap trigger. This releases the U-shaped band, which rotates away from the hook end of the apparatus according to the spring bias. As the band rotates under the fishing rod, it contacts the rod and forces it momentarily upward. This action tugs on the hook and sets it in the mouth of the fish. Ball teaches that the apparatus allows the hook line to pay out after hooking the fish. Thus the fish could potentially allow slack to accumulate in the hook line, which may allow the fish to release itself from the hook.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,017,715 issued to Kennedy teaches an apparatus with a horizontal base and a mousetrap-type hooking mechanism. The hooking mechanism includes a torsion spring and a wire frame, which is biased away from the hook end of the base. A pull line is attached to the end of the wire frame and the fish hook. A latch pivots about a bail in the base and includes a hook for engaging the wire frame. The opposite side of the latch is attached to a trigger line, which is also attached to the fish hook. In the set position, the wire frame is maintained in a horizontal position against the base by the latch. When a fish tugs the hook, the latch releases the wire frame, which is snapped against a plate by the torsion spring. The snapping action jerks the hook and sets it in the fishes mouth.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,996,704 issued to Hawkinson teaches an apparatus with a horizontal base and a mousetrap-type hooking mechanism. The hooking mechanism includes a torsion spring that biases a wire frame away from the hook end of the base. A trigger mechanism holds the wire frame in the set position. A hook line engages the trigger and is tied to the wire frame. When a fish tugs the line, the hook line bends the trigger and releases the wire frame, which, in turn, sets the hook in the fish's mouth.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,083,139 issued to Schwend teaches an apparatus with a horizontal base, a pivot arm that pivots about one end and pays out the hook line at the opposite end, and a hook setting mechanism. The hook setting mechanism includes a spring that biases the pivot arm toward vertical position and a mousetrap that acts as the trigger. The biasing spring is separate so that the spring's anchor position may be adjusted to increase or decrease the spring force. When a fish strikes the hook, the mousetrap is triggered releasing the pivot arm and allowing the biasing spring to pull the pivot arm upward and set the hook in the mouth of the fish.
In the references, the hook line is connected directly to the trigger, which may interfere with the normal operation of the hook line. Further, the horizontal orientation of the hooking mechanisms in the references takes up a significant portion of the support surface. Even further, the devices do not allow slack in the trigger line to allow the fish to swim with the hook prior to setting the hook. Thus, the hooking mechanism may trip before the fish has the hook completely in its mouth and the hook may be yanked away from the fish rather than being set in the mouth.
Therefore, a fishing apparatus that doesn't connect the hook line to the trigger, that takes up less of the support surface, and that allows the fish to swim with the hook before tripping the hooking mechanism is desired.